Now That We're Alone
by Tribeca
Summary: Penny and Sheldon are finally alone. Hmmm... *complete*


**A/N: This was originally chapter one of a summer fic I am working on. I ended up rewriting the entire first chapter of that fic but I didn't want to just delete this one so I tweaked it a bit and am posting it up as a one shot. ****This is my version of what took place after Penny and Sheldon dropped Leonard off at the airport in the final episode of season six. **

**To everyone who takes the time to read and review my fics, please know that I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys humble me. ****I wish you all a summer filled with mint ice cream, free concerts in the park and June bugs on extra long strings. Be well!**

**F-n-A: If you are reading this, thanks for your kind words. I envy your strength and I miss you.**

**To the "guest" reviewer who perpetually attempts to shoot down mine and everyone else's Shenny fics: Why are you so angry and mean? You are acting like a bully. Please know that there is absolutely nothing you can say or do that will cause any of us to stop liking Shenny. In fact, I find myself liking them a little more just because my love for them apparently makes you pee yourself. Neener, Neener, and also, _Neener_.****Good Day, sir...I said Good Day! :P**

**NOW THAT WE'RE ALONE**

"Well, he's gone. Looks like it's just you and me for the entire summer, Sheldon."

"Yes," came the voice from the back seat, "he's gone. We're in a red zone, Penny. Can we move now before that police officer comes over here and waterboards us?"

"God, Sheldon," Penny huffed, cranking her aging car and putting it into gear before reentering the heavy airport traffic. She reached to turn the radio on, making the volume louder than necessary to further rankle her jittery neighbor.

She drove several miles before either of them spoke again.

"We need to talk," Sheldon said softly, prompting her to turn the music down to accommodate his solemn mood.

"About what Sweetie?" she asked, glancing at him in the rearview mirror.

"I'm not sure," he shrugged.

Penny shook her head, then maneuvered the vehicle towards the far right lane, finally pulling off the highway and into the parking lot of a bookstore.

"Come up here with me, okay?" she said over her shoulder while patting the front passenger seat vacated by Leonard.

He complied, and she couldn't help but smile as she watched him fold his tall, lanky body into the seat. She had observed him do this countless times and it occurred to her that she never got tired to watching Sheldon Cooper navigate himself through life.

"What's up?" she asked, lightly poking a finger in his forearm. "Missing Leonard already?"

He sighed and pulled at the strap of his messenger bag.

"Missing him? No. Quite the opposite. In fact, I look forward to months of uninterrupted time in my apartment. I anticipate many hours of reading, studying, and working, without the constant threat of dairy induced stenches, caterwauling along with current popular music, and nervous pacing back and forth while he waits on you to return to your apartment from wherever it is you go."

"What? He paces and waits for me?"

"Yes," Sheldon said, glancing out the window, "surely you are aware he remains insecure about your fidelity and allegiance to him."

"You're kidding," she said slowly, shaking her head and tightening her grip on the steering wheel.

"Penny, you know I never kid."

"Oh God," she groaned in annoyance.

"Yes, he's quite the neurotic."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Yeah, you're right. You take a lot of slack about your, uh, _quirks_, but really? He's just as bad, only in a different way."

He gave her a tight smile, "I believe there is a compliment hiding somewhere in that poorly constructed sentence."

She shot him a sideways grin before starting the car and pulling back onto the roadway.

They stopped by Raj's apartment on the way home, Penny going in to commiserate with him about losing Lucy, and Sheldon electing to remain in the car. He was tired of dealing with the emotions of his friends for one day and he just wanted to get back to his apartment.

"Raj talked to me without alcohol!"

Penny got in the car jibber jabbering about Raj's monumental breakthrough only to be met with a stern-faced Sheldon.

"Penny, I hardly think the fact that an educated, grown man merely _speaking_ is cause for celebration. Can we just go home now?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm driving, Miss Daisy, hold your horses."

"Miss Daisy? Penny have you forgotten my name?"

"Oh, God," she laughed, "It's gonna be a long summer."

**~s/p~**

"Penny," he said after swallowing a mouthful of Pad Thai, "the new Star Trek movie will be in theaters next week. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to view it?"

She grinned at him, slurping at a noodle that hung halfway out her mouth, "Is that your way of asking me to drive you to the movie?"

He nodded, "Yes."

"Sure, I'll go. But what about Amy? Where's she been lately anyway? I haven't heard much out of her and I haven't seen her around here either. Leonard's been gone for over a week now and I thought she'd try to move in with you while he was away."

"Amy is," he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, "otherwise occupied."

"What's that mean?" she eyed him curiously.

"Well, to put it in terms you would understand...she dumped me."

"Oh Sheldon. What did you do?"

"Me?" he said, his voice indignant, "Why do you assume it is I who is in the wrong?"

"Shelllldooonnnn," she coaxed him.

"Very well. It's not so much what I did. It's what I didn't...what I wouldn't...do."

She rolled her eyes, "This is about sex, isn't it?"

He nodded, "Coitus, yes."

"Oh Sheldon."

She watched as he fidgeted with his hands, his eyes darting around the room, before he spoke.

"It's just," he began quietly, "I don't want that...well, I don't want it with her. I am very fond of Amy. She is well educated, a brilliant scientist, although her chosen field leaves a lot to be desired..."

"Back to the point, Sheldon, get back to the point."

"Well, as you know, I've watched many movies, and much to my chagrin, even the most action packed, well written stories, usually include an obligatory love scene. You know, some couple that, during the course of the film, fall in love, engage in coitus and have the ever uninspired happy ending."

"Oh, Sheldon, you're such a romantic."

He glared at her, "Sarcasm?"

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, back to Amy. What happened?"

"Well, as I've been forced to sit though these movie versions of love and romance, I've noted that the two people in question are drawn to each other, can't keep their hands off the other, long to be in the other's company. There's a passion there, a passionate love, I suppose."

"And?"

"And I don't feel that way towards Amy Farrah Fowler."

"Sheldon!"

"What? Is it wrong of me to be honest?"

"You didn't tell her that did you?"

"I told her I was not sexually attracted to her. I enjoy her company, I often heed her advice, and I appreciate her feelings towards me. I just find myself lacking _passion_ towards her. And for some reason, she took great offense at that."

Penny shook her head, "Imagine that. God Sheldon, that's enough to hurt any girl's feelings. You need to work on your tact."

"I fail to see a problem. If by 'tact' you mean brutal honesty, then I suppose you could be correct."

She sighed, "Sheldon, there's nothing wrong with honesty, it's the brutal part that needs work."

"Point taken," he said, getting up to go to the kitchen.

"I'm surprised she hasn't called me. That's kind of weird, she usually tells me everything, especially anything to do with the two of you."

"Ummmm," he turned to wash his dishes, "Well, enough about Amy. What's up with you?"

"Sheldon," she said, stalking towards him, "what are you hiding?"

"I don't know what you mean," he said as she stood next to him watching his face begin to twitch.

"First, you never, ever, ask 'what's up' with me. And second, I know you better than anybody else and I know you are trying to hide something. Spit it out."

"Well," he said, drying his hands and walking back to take his spot on the sofa, "Amy may be angry with you."

"What?" she screeched, flopping down on the leather cushion next to him.

"I may have told her a bit of a...fib...to prevent her from coming over here trying to reinstate our Relationship Agreement."

"Oh my God. What did you tell her?"

Penny watched as he squirmed in his seat. She placed a hand on his bony knee that protruded upward next to her.

"Just tell me," she said trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Well," he started slowly, dropping his gaze, "I may have told her that you and I are..._dating_...while Leonard is away."

"Sheldon!" Penny yelled, squeezing his knee with enough pressure to cause him to twist in his seat.

"It was the only thing I could think of," he said, wincing and attempting to push her hand from his leg.

"I can't believe you did that. Call her. Call her right now and tell her that is not true," Penny released her grasp on him and reached for her phone that was on the table in front of them.

"I don't want to," he whined in his most nasally tone.

"But Sheldon, I don't want her to be mad at me. And you know how the grapevine is in our social group. How long do you think it will be before that gets back to Leonard?"

"Well," he said slowly, "I had not thought of that."

"And do you really want people to think we...you and me...are _dating?_"

He studied her face, the way her nose scrunched, her eyes squinted, her mouth twisted in horror.

"Do you find me that repulsive, Penny?"

She was sure she detected a hint of regret in his voice.

"Uh," she mumbled, "no, of course not. It's just, well you know, weird. That's all."

He turned to face her, "Do you mean I am weird or the idea of you and I dating is weird?"

She grinned at him and gave his shoulder a playful punch, "Well, you know, you _are_ a big weirdo."

"I see," he said quietly, standing as he spoke. "Penny, it's getting late and I'm quite tired. I am going to shower and retire for the night. Please see yourself out."

"Sheldon, wait," she said, getting to her feet and trailing after him.

"Penny, please see yourself out. I'm going to get in the shower now, I expect you to be gone when I get out."

Penny watched as he entered the bathroom and pushed the door closed behind him. She returned to the kitchen to clean her dishes and put away the condiments she'd used, then left his apartment and retuned to her own.

Sleep eluded her that night, and no matter how many times she hummed 'Soft Kitty' to herself, she was unable to get the image of his sad eyes out of her head. The fact that she could have been wrong about him all these years, that she had wasted so much time dismissing the gut feeling she'd had for him since day one, slowly began to haunt her.

**~s/p~**

"I would date you," she said in a soft voice when he opened the door.

"What?"

"And I do not find you repulsive. You are," she reached to press a palm against his cheek, "beautiful to me."

He sighed, remaining in the doorway, not granting her entrance.

"Penny, I am a grown man. I do not need to be coddled, nor do I want your pity."

She stepped forward and gave him a shove, then brushed past him and into the apartment, making her way to the sofa and taking a seat in the spot next to his.

"I'm not coddling and I'm not pitying. I'm continuing our conversation from last night since you were such a big baby and ran off to the bathroom before I was finished talking."

He pushed the door closed and faced her, arms folded defiantly across his chest.

"Sheldon, please come over here. We need to finish this, okay?"

"Very well," he said reluctantly as he moved towards her, "but you could stand to work on _your_ tact."

"Point taken."

"Penny, perhaps I owe you and apology. You are correct, it was wrong of me to tell Amy that you and I were dating. It is preposterous on the very face of it."

"Do you find _me_ that repulsive, Sheldon?" she teased.

He turned to face her, lifting a steady hand to brush away a wisp of hair from her face, "Penny, I could never find you repulsive."

Slowly, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and held it lightly before asking the question that had haunted her throughout the night.

"What's really going on here Sheldon?"

Penny watched as his eyes fell to their hands and she was certain she could see the gears turning in his mind.

"I'm the reason Leonard is on that ship," he said in a hushed tone.

"What?"

He pulled away from her and stood, turning his back to her because he'd never been much good at confrontation or confession.

"I felt...I have felt for a while...that maybe you and I need to stop this cat and mouse game we've been playing for six years now. We both are getting in deep with our respective partners and it occurred to me that we need to evaluate our situation before one or both of us reach a point of no return with Leonard or Amy."

"I don't know what you mean," she said to his back as she stood from the sofa.

"Don't you?"

"Sheldon, turn around. Please. Turn around and look at me."

"Tell me you know what I mean, Penny," he said firmly, still refusing to look at her.

"Turn around," she said again, this time with more force.

"Tell me," he repeated.

"Turn around," she said, moving closer to him.

"Tell me," he whispered, barely audible.

She'd moved close enough now to loosely wrap her arms around his waist from behind, tethering herself to him in some absurd attempt to keep him from running this time. She pressed the side of her face against his back and felt his body shift slightly, slowly giving in to her backwards embrace.

"I _do_ know what you mean," she confessed.

"I had Gablehauser get Leonard on the Hawking expedition. We made it appear as if Howard pulled all the strings with the Hawking team. Wolowitz...he's so weak and gullible...he took the bait hook, line and sinker. All it took was a departmental email and Howard fell for it. To this day he believes it is because of his connections that Leonard got the commission."

"So...you wanted Leonard gone. For an entire summer. And you picked a fight with Amy to get her out of the picture. Just so you and I..."

Her voice trailed off, astonished at the lengths he had gone to.

"So you and I could have some time together."

"Some time to be alone," she said softly.

"Yes."

"Sheldon."

"Are you angry?"

"No. I'm flattered...I'm stunned...and grateful."

"Grateful?"

"Yes, _grateful_. I thought, well, the way you are, the way you've always been, that I was the only one that felt anything. I never knew you felt it too."

"I've denied it for years. It wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't what you needed."

"And now?"

"And now, I realize neither of us is getting any younger. And having Amy pursue me for almost two years, one night it occurred to me. I knew it wasn't fair for her to expect certain things from me while I...while I had unresolved feelings for you. I can't give myself to her when it's...when, it's always been _you_."

"It must have hurt you...all these years...to see me with Leonard."

"It hasn't been easy. But I have no one to blame but myself. I hold no ill will towards Leonard."

"I'm so sorry...I'm sorry we've wasted so much time."

"I just need to know if you love him, Penny. I've heard you say it, but do you mean it?"

Penny pressed her eyes closed, "Yeah, I do, but not like he wants me to, not like I should. I guess I love him because it's convenient...it's a convenient love I have with him."

"And there's a difference between a convenient love and other kind of love?"

"Yes."

"I want to know about love, Penny. I want to learn about it with you."

"I wish you would turn around. I want to see you."

She dropped her arms and took a step back, holding her breath until he gradually began to turn towards her.

"Hi," she smiled up at him when he finally stood face to face with her, his cloudy blue eyes flitting about nervously.

"Hello," he replied, with a shy smile.

"So, we're really going to do this, give us a shot?"

"We have the entire summer."

"I'll need to call Leonard, you know, set him free, before you and I can...well, before you and I can give this, give _us_, a chance," she said quietly.

"I knew you would."

She laughed, "Yeah, I have my flaws, but cheating ain't one of them."

He cleared his throat and bashfully corrected her, "Isn't."

"What?"

"Cheating _isn't_ one of them."

"Oh God, we're going to drive each other crazy."

"Yeah," he said, giving her the same sultry look he'd given her from across his whiteboard six years ago when they'd faced each other for the first time in this very room. They'd both felt it that September day in 2007, that instantaneous and inexplicable attraction between the two of them. But it had gone unanswered for so long, it had lay dying, barely breathing, in the shadows of their unremarkable relationships with Leonard and Amy, trampled by far too many social conventions.

But now that they were alone they would take a chance. This time Sheldon and Penny were finally going to have their beginning, the beginning they never got to have. It may have taken them years to get here, but they were both here now and there was no one to keep them from having what should have been theirs six years ago.

Penny placed the necessary call to Leonard and then took Sheldon's hand in hers and led him across the hall to her apartment. The summer of 2013 was going to be hot, so incredibly hot.


End file.
